Alena

Alena is a protagonist in Dragon Quest IV. She is the Tsarevna of Zamoksva (Santeem on the NES), but dreams of becoming the strongest fighter alive. Against the will of her father, she embarks on a journey to prove her strength to the world, accompanied by Kiryl and Borya.

With her cape and pointed hat, Alena somewhat resembles the female mage from Dragon Quest III, though she possesses no magical aptitude at all. Though regarded by some as a tomboy, Alena does not forgo her feminine side; she is simply too concerned with improving her strength to be tied down by bothersome traditions and dictations of "proper" conduct. Nevertheless, she does enjoy adding the occasional accessory to her attire.

Alena is a definitive spitfire, unafraid to speak her mind and dead-set on reaching her goals. Despite her high aspirations, Alena is far from the stereotypically serious martial artist, and sees the world around her with the wide eyes of wonder befitting her age. She tires of being coddled by her father and the inhabitants of Castle Zamoksva, and is eager to see the world that she knows exists beyond her bedroom window. Though very stubborn, Alena is far from thick-headed; she immediately jumps on board when faced with her destiny of helping the Hero counter the threat the Lord of the Underworld posses to the world.

Chapter 2 begins with Alena begging her father, the King of Zamoksva, to let her explore the world, since strong fighters are needed more and more in their troubled times, with the Underworld creeping out of dormancy. However, he refuses, saying that with monsters showing increasing aggression, it's simply too dangerous to let her leave the safety of the castle. Alena goes back to her room but, within a few minutes, has been overcome with frustration and escapes the castle.

Kiryl and Borya, her retainers, give chase; they're resigned to not being able to make her stay put, but if she's going to leave, they can't allow her to travel alone. The three set out and soon come to a small village being terrorized by a local monster continually demanding young girls as a sacrifice. Alena immediately heads to the local church to offer herself as the next sacrifice, but she has no intention of dying; as soon as the demon shows its face, she, Kiryl, and Borya spring into action and take it out, saving the village.

After journeying straight to the far ends of Zamoksva, the nomadic Desert Bazaar, she learns her father is has become mute. Retrieving some birdsong nectar to treat him, he admits that he was mistaken in his over-protectiveness, and opens the Travel Gate to Endor. On arrival, Alena finds the local princess bemoaning her fate, because her father has promised her hand to the winner of the Tournament of Endor, an annual fighting competition, and her father is seriously regretting this promise. Though she hears rumblings of an extremely dangerous entrant named Psaro the Manslayer, Alena enters and gets to the finals, only to find that her opponent, who would have been Psaro, was a no show. By winning the tournament, Alena absolve the Princess of her duty.

However, even as she is celebrating her victory a Zamoksva soldier rushes in and cries that she must return to the castle at once, then dies at the scene. The party returns to the Castle but finds it completely devoid of life. They set out to investigate and the chapter ends abruptly.

Alena and her companions are not seen again until Chapter 5, when Kiryl has fallen under a dangerous fever and is bedridden at Mintos. Alena and a band of three mercenaries set out to the weed's reported location to try and recover some to cure Kiryl, but fails. However, the Hero of Dragon Quest IV succeeds, and upon learning of their destiny the three immediately join the party for the remainder of the game. Some time later, they return to Zamoksva, finding the cause of its troubles to be the demon Baalzack, whom they kill in retribution and for the greater good.

Alena corresponds to the martial artist vocation. She has high strength, hit points, and agility; however her equipment selection is somewhat limited (compared to the hero, Ragnar, and Torneko). She can wear most armor up to chain mail, but can wield only clubs, whips and her special weapon, claws. Due to her stat progression, she has the highest luck of all party members, enabling her to frequently dodge debilitating spells.

Additionally, Alena's critical hit formula is very different from the other chosen; instead of a fixed 1/64 chance, her ratio is dependant on her level. In the NES and PSX version, the formula is LvL/256, while in the DS and mobile phone versions it is calculated as LvL(3/4)/256. Both will cap at level 64, giving 25% and 19% probabilities respectively.

Alena's name has been fairly consistent across localizations, except that it is spelled Alina in the French DS version to ensure correct pronunciation. In Japan it is usually romanized Arena because there is no "L" in the Japanese language.

Alena appears as one of the guests at Quester's Rest in Stornway. This can be achieved trough the DQVC using Nintendo's Wi-Fi Channel. When you talk to her she gives you different pieces of her outfit depending on different situations.